Attention Unlucky Boston Marathon Squeakers: “Boston Magazine” May Have a Bib For You

The publication is giving away spots to the man and woman closest to missing the qualifying time cutoff.

Runners head down Boylston Street toward the Boston Marathon finish line. Robert James Reese

To qualify for the Boston Marathon, hopefuls needed to run two minutes and 28 seconds faster than their age-group qualifying time to snag a coveted bib. Those who didn’t received heart-wrenching news last fall: they qualified, but were not fast enough to earn a spot in the already-full field.

If you were an unlucky runner who missed the mark by just a couple seconds, you may want to start training again. Boston Magazine, in partnership with the Boston Athletic Association, is giving away a bib to the man and woman with the closest qualifying time to the 2:28 cutoff.

Interested Boston squeakers have until March 9 at 5 p.m. to register with Boston Magazine, providing their qualifying time and race along with the number of years they’ve run Boston in the past.

Liz Brown, Boston Magazine’s marketing manager, said she expects multiple people may register that ran just one second slower than the cutoff time. In the case of a tie, she said the bib will be awarded to the person who has run the most Boston Marathons previously.

Brown also said Boston Magazine will verify the times and races of every contest entrant with the BAA.

The magazine typically receives several bibs from the BAA to give to employees. This year six staff members are running the race, but the publication decided to use its two remaining bibs to help ease the pain of qualifiers who just missed out on a chance to participate.

“This is a way for the people who worked so hard who did qualify to have a chance to run,” said Leah Palone, the magazine’s marketing director.

In addition to the contest, Boston Magazine has helped produce the marathon’s official race program for the past three years. The publication also created the now-famous cover featuring running shoes in the shape of a heart as part of its coverage of the bombings in 2013.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this article stated that to qualify for the Boston Marathon, hopefuls needed to run 2:38 faster than their age-group qualifying time to get into the race. In fact, they needed to run 2:28 faster.

Advertising helps us deliver great running information and advice

Enter your email or disable your ad blocker to access all content on

Are you sure you want to log out?

If you are the only person using this device,
there’s no need to log out. Just exit this page
and you won’t have to sign in again. But if
you’re on a public or shared computer, log out
to keep your account secure.